| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | relatively easy job in a publisher's photo library. |
| Imagine getting paid to drive some of the | | | | The photo library worked with the company's |
| world’s greatest cars -- Mercedes, | | | | automotive division a lot, so he was in a prime |
| Corvette, Porsche, Viper, and others. Sounds | | | | position when a job opened up there. |
| great? Now picture doing that on luxurious | | | | Now he hangs out at racetracks, drives Jaguars |
| all-expense-paid trips to exotic locations, where | | | | and Corvettes, and goes on press trips to Hawaii |
| you hang out with some of the biggest names in | | | | and Palm Springs. |
| the auto industry. | | | | His story is fairly typical. Plenty of people -- men |
| That’s everyday life for car-magazine test | | | | and women alike -- get into the profession in |
| drivers. | | | | similar sorts of ways. And you might be surprised |
| Hard to believe? You're not the only person who | | | | at how quickly things can move along toward |
| thinks so. I've worked as a car-magazine test | | | | getting such a job if you put your mind to it. |
| driver since 1999 and I still get looks of | | | | Although every person's career progresses at a |
| astonishment when I tell people what I do for a | | | | different pace, three to five years is a pretty |
| living. Getting a job like this seems like it would be | | | | normal time for breaking into becoming a test |
| as hard as winning the lottery. But the truth is, | | | | driver. Not bad for a job that routinely puts you |
| you don't have to be working for big, glossy | | | | behind the wheel of $60,000 cars for a week at |
| sports-car magazines to enjoy a great job as a | | | | a time. |
| test driver. There are countless other publications | | | | Regardless of your experience or education, you'll |
| that use test drivers. And you don't need | | | | have to learn how to write fairly well. Once test |
| extraordinary luck or rare talent to get into this | | | | drivers drive a car, they're usually required to |
| profession. | | | | write an article based on their findings. And when |
| Granted, it's not as easy as applying to get a | | | | they're not behind the wheel, test drivers are |
| part-time job at the mall, or even like going after | | | | usually sitting at their desk writing other things |
| a typical office job. But it's also not a frustrating, | | | | such as news pieces, interview stories, or |
| one-in-a-million chance like trying to become a | | | | retrospective articles. |
| rock star or a Hollywood actor either. Far from it. | | | | That said, you don't have to be an award-winning |
| There isn't a pre-specified way to become a | | | | writer with decades of journalism experience to |
| car-magazine test driver as there is for, say, | | | | become a test driver. A lot of people working in |
| becoming a doctor or lawyer. So you have to | | | | this field are self-taught. With some study and |
| pretty much find your own path into the field. | | | | diligent practice, most car enthusiasts could learn |
| That may sound intimidating, but it's actually | | | | how to write well enough to do the job. |
| another one of the profession's upsides -- people | | | | For anyone who loves cars, being a test driver is |
| can work their way into test-driver jobs from | | | | like a fairy tale mixed with a weekend in Vegas -- |
| widely varying experience and education. For | | | | you can’t help but be amazed by some of |
| example, one of my colleagues was working in a | | | | the things you get to do. It takes more effort to |
| retail bookstore before becoming a test driver. He | | | | get these jobs than it does to break into other, |
| got into an automotive publication by taking a | | | | more mundane fields. |